


After the Winter

by merrygo22



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Eternal Winter, Gen, Guess who forgot he was a thing?, I add Lloyd!, I have no idea what this became, I'm just gonna, M/M, Slice of Life, What Have I Done, an opening, and then regret my life choices, make this chapter one, me that's who, pls end me, this was meant to be like 20 words, yes I named the ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-06 02:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21219146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrygo22/pseuds/merrygo22
Summary: It's Spring in Ninjago after so long





	1. Chapter 1

It was lunch time in Ninjago. High above the city sat the home of their intrepid defenders. A tall beacon of hope and triumph. Strength of the elements, cumming of the ninja, knowledge of things beyond their comprehension. A summit nearly untouchable. 

It meant they had to deliver these pizzas up an entire mountain fast enough for it to still be considered fresh or else have to give it for free. The saviors of the city had received many a free pizza.

New storage bags were made specifically for the monastery. Self-heating oven bags, powered by a frantically peddling delivery boy and a good amount of the sun. Truth be told they’d be happy to give the ninja free food. If they didn’t order so much of it so often. Instead it was a race. A battle of wills to see who would end up paying for the prepared food in the back of a delivery bike. 

In the end, the pizza was 7 minutes early. They had learned fairly quickly to give themselves a large cushion to avoid the ever dreaded ‘you’re two minutes late’. The delivery man carefully pulled his bike to one side of the large entrance. Taking the stack of different pizzas to the front. Knocking lightly on the outside. They never had trouble getting the inhabitants attention when food was in their hands.

“Delivery for the ninja!” 

A bird chirped in the distance. Various sounds from the forest filled the silence of the wooden doors. In the middle of all his running he hadn’t heard any of them. It was nice. Standing there, listening to live carry on around him. Leaves rustling in the breeze. The gentle sound of the wind. There were some squirrels somewhere, scurrying along their way. 

It makes sense they would live here. This was the place he thought heroes would live. A known master like Wu. The delivery man never had taken the time to do something like this. Maybe he should. His wife would love a picnic in the park. He hasn’t spent an afternoon with Susie or Billy in ages. Things have always felt too hectic. 

It isn’t going to be like that anymore. He took in a deep breath of fresh air. No, after word today he’d do something better than sit and complain about climbing a few stairs. “You’re gonna be alright Ke-”

In the middle of his own name he catches something out of the corner of his eye. The pizzas gone, replaced with a small stack of cash. With a hefty tip given how many bills there were. When did...how long...

“I’m getting a new job. Closer to home.”


	2. Slice of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner banter leads to the heart of an issue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Chapter two. I forgot how hard writing is. One day you give up and then the next you're writing a multichapter slowburn fic with a rare pair and a main pair and you're questioning what has led you to this moment. Hope you enjoy it! I actually did have fun, even if it was hard

“Hey everyone! Dinner’s here!” 

Cole screamed down the halls of the monastery. In anticipation of food, most of the residents were already close by. No one had been in much of a mood to cook that day. Cleaning up after had no appeal either. It had been a few days for some of them. A long week for others. 

A long few decades for others still.

Down time was in order for everyone. Kai’s powers returning still had gone on uncelebrated as well. Now was as good a time as any to kick back with greasy food and spend time with their family. Who knows when the inevitable next disaster would strike. 

In one fluid motion the earth ninja threw the boxes onto the long table. Each perfectly sliding into a single file line and waiting to be opened. Six in total with the intent of having extra for lunch later in the week. It was a rare moment of forethought for such things. 

The smell of food began luring the small group into the dining room. Kai came in first, flame primed and ready in his palm. “I heard you yelling, I was literally right there. Need those pies heated?” 

The fire ninja was more than eager to use his powers once again. Even if they didn’t need the extra heat holding the flame so easily in his hands made him feel whole. At one with his native element. 

It made him a walking hazard the past day or so. 

“We’re fine, please put that away before Nya has to put out the whole building.” 

Kai clicked his tongue in disappointment, disapetting the small ember. “Alright. But if you need a flame…” the offer was left hanging in the air. Cole didn’t need a light. They both knew that. 

“We’re all happy for that you got your fire back, really,” Cole started, getting himself some water while no one was at the fridge. “But I like my stuff un-burned if that’s ok with you.”

The other opened the farthest box to check on the toppings. Behind him more people filed in. Their sensei with Jay in tow. A remote is in Jay’s hand in pieces. 

“I know what I said but I didn’t think you’d use Spinjitsu on it!” The electric ninja complained. Small pieces of circuit board falling from the once new remote. After the last incident with the remote, it felt prudent to get a new one. Especially with Pixal around as well. Controlling her with it like Zane felt icky. 

Wu approached the table, taking his seat at the unoccupied end of the table. “You invited a test. If you’re making something unbreakable, you must expect someone to try to break it.” And break it the master did. Shattered in fact. It never stood a chance. “Now that you know its limits, you can make a better one.” 

“But I didn’t-” Jay attempted to defend his creation. Taking a seat by Kai, who had already taken a slice for himself. “Hey, you’re already eating! I thought we waited until everyone was here to eat. Right, Sensei?” Jay gestured to the old man just as he was lifting a slice to his mouth. Halting as he was called out to back up his young student. “Oh, come on! Am I the only one that thinks that’s important?”

Kai had already gotten to the crust of his first slice, a shrug is only answer. Cole only just finally sat down and taken two pieces of his own. “I called everyone. If they’re taking their time they get what’s left.”

That answer wasn’t good enough for their resident tinkerer. He crossed his arms in stern defiance. “Well, I’m waiting for the others.” 

“Standing up for your principles. I’m very proud of you, Jay,” their teacher complimented, bits of pepperoni and grease in his mustache. “And since you’re so steadfast in this, I’m sure you don’t need this temptation by you.” The boxes in front of the lightning ninja quickly slide closer to Wu’s end of the table. 

The other closet pizza slid the opposite direction. Cole very obviously moving it slowly to catch his attention. “I agree, Master. Jay is a man of great moral fiber. And I’d hate to see him have to smell dinner so close, yet so far away. We’ll take care of the pizza for you.”

“Wha-Hey!” 

Kai closes his box to open the one Cole stole. “That means more for us now and left overs for you.”

“Well, if you’re gonna be jerks,” Jay started, grabbing the first box he could. Hoisting it high over his head. “I’m taking all the pizza then. I am keeper of the pizza.” 

“We’re going to have to fight over the title.”

A loud scoff stopped the fire ninja from placing down his food and actually starting that fight. The last guests for dinner making their way to the kitchen. “See? I told you they’d all start without us,” Nya said to Lloyd, coming up just behind her. Tailing the pair was a quiet Pixal. 

Lloyd shakes his head like he’s disappointed. “I thought Ninja always stuck together.” He walks around the table to sit by Wu as Nya grabs one next to Jay. 

Pixal finds a spot on the back of the table. Sitting herself down without a word. Cole, taking the title of pizza master, starts to hand out slices to the new guests with only the mild complaint of ‘took you guys long enough’. 

Jay sets his box down to sputter. “But-I didn’t...they were! I was waiting!” 

Nya pats his shoulder and a small kiss on his cheek. “I’m sure you were.”

The group chuckles as Jay lets out an indigent whine. Pixal excuses herself for a moment while the ninjas prepare to eat. Returning to her seat with a set of silverware for herself. 

“Pixal, noooo,” Kai protested. Reaching towards the android in a plea to stop. “Please tell me you’re not eating pizza with a fork and a knife.”

She looks down to the two utensils then the red ninja. “What is wrong with this? This should be the optimal way to consume this dinner. The cheese will slide off. I will not drop any toppings. And I can keep the pieces at a reasonable size for consumption. Is this not so?” 

Kai waved her reasoning away. “Pizza isn’t about all that. It’s about feeling the cheese on your cheeks. It’s about enjoying your food like a caveman. Eating with your hands. It’s an experience.”

“I do not enjoy any of those things.”

“Optimal or not,” Lloyd interjects, cheese hanging from his mouth, “I’m just glad it’s still hot.” Any time in the frozen wastelands of the Neverrealm would leave someone craving warmth. Lloyd had protested pizza if only for the chance it’d come cold. 

Cole nodded after a sip of his drink. “I know. The delivery guy is a bit space-y but he got here on time. We should request him next time.”

“You can do that?” Jay asks, finally eating with the group. 

“Don’t see why not.”

The table grew quiet after that. Soft sounds of chewing and gentle clicks of a knife filled the silence. It had been too long since they had a night in with everyone. 

Almost.

“Zane isn’t coming to dinner again, I see.” Lloyd stated plainly. 

All the eating stopped. 

Pixal grew distant almost instantly. Staring down at her nearly empty plate, if only to have something to focus some of her attention on. “No. He is not.”

Nya reached across the table to the android. Only days had gone by since the ninja returned home from the frozen lands of the Neverrealm and things had become delicate. “We’re trying to talk to him. The first day he was fine. We thought things would be ok. But then the next day it was like he was a completely different person. He didn’t want to talk to us. Didn’t go back to his room. Didn’t even want to come eat. We’ve been really worried but,” she sighed. “We don’t know what to do if he doesn’t tell us what’s wrong.”

Heads gradually turn towards Wu for some kind of guidance. The master looks to be in thought without waiting for their request for help. “Zane has experienced something that we cannot understand. It’s understandable that he would not be as open as we would like. Not everyone recovers the same. The important thing is to be there and let him know when he’s ready that you’re going to help.” 

Wu reaches for tea that he does not have. “And tea. Lots of tea.”

“Yes, Master,” came a chroused reply. 

Quiet came again. The mood in the room dropping as suddenly as the silence came. Things had been hard since their first day home. When the memories had time to settle in things changed. It wasn’t like before. The slow change over time. Growth of character and inevitable change that came with life. Things felt off. Perhaps things would never go to the way things were. Like a torn pictures pieced together still had the rips. 

“We’ll get him through this.” Lloyd doesn’t let any doubt creep into his voice. “That’s what we do. We’re ninja. We stick together, we never give up and we get through whatever gets thrown at us. This isn’t going to be what breaks us.” He turns his head to look at Pixal. “That’s a promise.” 

He rests his hand on top of hers for a few seconds. Reminding her that they are they for whatever she needs in the meantime. 

“Thank you.” 

Cole clears his throat. The table turning towards the new sound. “We should start making more contingency plans too. This is the second time we’ve been gone and something happened. Ninjago might not have Samurai X next time. We should leave them something just in case we’re all gone again.”

“Like a barrier,” Jay suggested. Motioning a dome shape with his hands. 

“I could talk to Cyrus Borg,” Nya offered as well. “Maybe Zane would be more open to talking to someone outside of the group too. Kill two birds with one stone.”

Pixal nodded in agreement. If they could stay hopefully, so could she. Seeing her father again would be wonderful as well. It had been far, far too long since her last visit. Life had become so hectic. Perhaps this was the head of all of that chaos. 

“I’m proud of all of you. Finding solutions and working towards them.” Wu praised the ninja, looking them all over. 

“We’re a family. That’s what family does,” Kai added. “Just give it some time. Things will work out. I know they will. We’ll make it work.”

The pizza went cold. 

Their team was going to be ok again. It was a promise.


End file.
